|
|
|
|
viewing 1 To 25 of 39 items
Next >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 118CD
|
"Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices ran up an extremely prolific streak in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave four star and five star reviews in the process. In case one were snoozing, the last album, La La Land was Uncut magazine's 'Best Of The Month.' The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities. Welshpool Frillies finds the gang back together, in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison. Much of it was recorded live to tape. The catchy ear worms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of 90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of GBV's start in Dayton, Ohio. Robert Pollard was an elementary school teacher with no formal music training, and his unlikely success has been an odds-defying adventure. It's never too late to discover this vital rock band and join the GBV cult."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 118LP
|
LP version. "Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices ran up an extremely prolific streak in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave four star and five star reviews in the process. In case one were snoozing, the last album, La La Land was Uncut magazine's 'Best Of The Month.' The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities. Welshpool Frillies finds the gang back together, in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison. Much of it was recorded live to tape. The catchy ear worms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of 90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of GBV's start in Dayton, Ohio. Robert Pollard was an elementary school teacher with no formal music training, and his unlikely success has been an odds-defying adventure. It's never too late to discover this vital rock band and join the GBV cult."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 117CD
|
"La La Land doubles down on the intricate proggy-pop displayed on Guided By Voices's last album Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. On a hot streak of critical acclaim, Robert Pollard continues expanding his songwriting towards extremes of prettiness, heaviness and poeticism. As always, unforgettable hooks are everywhere. But with this latest, it seems Pollard is playing with the extremes of his abilities as a songwriter, emboldened by the power of this lineup now on their fourteenth album together since 2017. The prettiest stuff is prettier than ever ('Queen Of Spaces') and odder, more complex songs like 'Slowly On The Wheel' combine minimalism, whimsy, and cinematic inclinations. There are the exquisite power pop bangers that fans come to expect like 'Ballroom Etiquette' and 'Pockets.' Tracks like 'Instinct Dwelling' and 'Caution Song' effortlessly display a cranked-up weight and complexity most bands could never muster. Celebrating forty years in 2023 with their thirty-eighth album, GBV has lately been garnering rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Uncut, MOJO, Shindig, Paste, Popmatters, The Quietus and many more."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 117LP
|
LP version. "La La Land doubles down on the intricate proggy-pop displayed on Guided By Voices's last album Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. On a hot streak of critical acclaim, Robert Pollard continues expanding his songwriting towards extremes of prettiness, heaviness and poeticism. As always, unforgettable hooks are everywhere. But with this latest, it seems Pollard is playing with the extremes of his abilities as a songwriter, emboldened by the power of this lineup now on their fourteenth album together since 2017. The prettiest stuff is prettier than ever ('Queen Of Spaces') and odder, more complex songs like 'Slowly On The Wheel' combine minimalism, whimsy, and cinematic inclinations. There are the exquisite power pop bangers that fans come to expect like 'Ballroom Etiquette' and 'Pockets.' Tracks like 'Instinct Dwelling' and 'Caution Song' effortlessly display a cranked-up weight and complexity most bands could never muster. Celebrating forty years in 2023 with their thirty-eighth album, GBV has lately been garnering rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Uncut, MOJO, Shindig, Paste, Popmatters, The Quietus and many more."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
Book
|
|
EAT 018BK
|
"235 pages of Robert Pollard's fantastic collage art in a perfect bound book. HE NEVER STOPS CREATING."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 116CD
|
"Scalping The Guru is an archival Guided By Voices release, envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four GBV EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard-to-find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with classics including 'My Impression Now,' 'Matter Eater Lad,' and 'Big School.' They feature the line-up that includes Robert Pollard with Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Jim Pollard, Dan Toohey, Greg Demos, and Larry Keller. Recorded on four-track cassette by Tobin Sprout, with some songs lovingly fucked with by Mike Hummel."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 116LP
|
LP version. "Scalping The Guru is an archival Guided By Voices release, envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four GBV EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard-to-find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with classics including 'My Impression Now,' 'Matter Eater Lad,' and 'Big School.' They feature the line-up that includes Robert Pollard with Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Jim Pollard, Dan Toohey, Greg Demos, and Larry Keller. Recorded on four-track cassette by Tobin Sprout, with some songs lovingly fucked with by Mike Hummel."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 115CD
|
"Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 115LP
|
LP version. "Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 112CD
|
"On Oct 9, 2007, Robert Pollard simultaneously released two albums on Merge Records: Standard Gargoyle Decisions and Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love. Both now out of print, Pollard has reimagined and condensed the two as Our Gaze, a single fifteen song album. Because it's better."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 112LP
|
LP version. "On Oct 9, 2007, Robert Pollard simultaneously released two albums on Merge Records: Standard Gargoyle Decisions and Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love. Both now out of print, Pollard has reimagined and condensed the two as Our Gaze, a single fifteen song album. Because it's better."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 111CD
|
"The mighty Guided By Voices are set to unleash upon the world their 35th and quite possibly... best album, Crystal Nuns Cathedral. How do they do it you might ask? Well, we have no idea how they do it, but we certainly do know why they do it. They do it because, quite honestly, we need them to do it. The world needs The Rock, and we need loud guitars, we need anthemic songs, we need a reason to raise a rock fist in the air and give a 'Hell Yeah'! On Crystal Nuns Cathedral, the band delivers all of this and so much more. Just four months since It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!, comes this latest, twelve songs determined to challenge for the title of greatest Guided by Voices album of all-time. Hyperbole you say? Not this time. The guitars are bigger, the arrangements are more ambitious, the songs are uplifting, epic, and as incredibly hook-laden as always! Pure power pop perfection like lead single 'Excited Ones' mix perfectly with the slow burning 'Climbing A Ramp,' which reaches its climax on a stunning guitar lead before dissolving into the fist pumping anthem 'Never Mind the List,' which serves as the beating heart of the entire album. Do you still need convincing? Listen to the one-two punch of 'Forced to Sea' and 'Huddled' and marvel at the epic scope and vision of an incredible band on full display. This record is a statement, a challenge, a monument, a call to arms. Top this one if you can, this is the new benchmark. Who will best it? Who will try? Listen to Crystal Nuns Cathedral, and report back to us. We will be eagerly waiting."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 111LP
|
LP version. "The mighty Guided By Voices are set to unleash upon the world their 35th and quite possibly... best album, Crystal Nuns Cathedral. How do they do it you might ask? Well, we have no idea how they do it, but we certainly do know why they do it. They do it because, quite honestly, we need them to do it. The world needs The Rock, and we need loud guitars, we need anthemic songs, we need a reason to raise a rock fist in the air and give a 'Hell Yeah'! On Crystal Nuns Cathedral, the band delivers all of this and so much more. Just four months since It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!, comes this latest, twelve songs determined to challenge for the title of greatest Guided by Voices album of all-time. Hyperbole you say? Not this time. The guitars are bigger, the arrangements are more ambitious, the songs are uplifting, epic, and as incredibly hook-laden as always! Pure power pop perfection like lead single 'Excited Ones' mix perfectly with the slow burning 'Climbing A Ramp,' which reaches its climax on a stunning guitar lead before dissolving into the fist pumping anthem 'Never Mind the List,' which serves as the beating heart of the entire album. Do you still need convincing? Listen to the one-two punch of 'Forced to Sea' and 'Huddled' and marvel at the epic scope and vision of an incredible band on full display. This record is a statement, a challenge, a monument, a call to arms. Top this one if you can, this is the new benchmark. Who will best it? Who will try? Listen to Crystal Nuns Cathedral, and report back to us. We will be eagerly waiting."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
GBVI 105LP
|
"Double-vinyl gatefold reissue of Guided By Voices frontman's most celebrated solo album, previously released in 2006 on Merge Records. From A Compound Eye was Robert Pollard's first solo album after dissolving Guided By Voices in 2004. When things came to an end for GBV, Pollard promised that this would not mean the end of his songwriting and recording career. It actually provided a fresh start. Leaving his band (and Matador Records) behind allowed him to record when he wanted and what he wanted, with whomever he wanted. Chock full of fantastic songs including 'Dancing Girls and Dancing Men', 'I'm a Widow', 'Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft', and 'I'm A Strong Lion'."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 063LP
|
2021 repress. 2015 release. "Dayton, Ohio-based supergroup Ricked Wicky pulls off a rarely ventured and even more rarely gained three-peat with its third album -- all recorded and released in the span of a year -- Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair. The quartet, led by Robert Pollard and seconded mostly by multi-instrumentalist Nick Mitchell, with assists from Kevin March on drums and Todd Tobias on bass, have amped Pollard's already wildly prolific output to Jason-Statham-in-Crank-2 levels. Swimmer serves up the same gleefully messy prog/punk/pop stew as on the previous two Ricked Wicky releases, but there's a growing sense of assurance evident on the newest record that indicates Big Things for the future. We draw your attention in particular to 'Poor Substitute,' as straightforward a song as Pollard has ever written, emotionally charged, melancholy, executed with rough vigor by the band and sung with unaffected mastery. Contrast this with the following song, which showcases Mitchell's more polished songwriting approach (and abundant guitar chops) and his vibrant, albeit less elastic, tenor voice. If Guided By Voices, Pollard's other other band, often bear comparison to the Beatles, Ricked Wicky on occasion calls to mind a kind of lo-fi Blue Öyster Cult, with a touch of early Queen (Mitchell's slide work on 'The Blind Side' recalls Brian May). Those accustomed to more standard Pollardian fare will find plenty to chew on here: the virtuosic wordplay on album opener 'What Are All Those Paint Men Digging,' the thumping thug-rock of 'Red-Legged Pygmalion,' the epic sweep (in three minutes) of 'Simple Simon Paper Plates,' for starters. But if Pollard seems determined to establish Ricked Wicky as more than just another in a numberless series of side projects -- as an actual thing-in-itself as fully realized as anything he's ever dreamed up in his rock-crystal bowl -- he's nonetheless never more himself than when testing his own limits. By welcoming different voices and different approaches to both playing and songwriting, by framing Ricked Wicky as a collaboration of equals, he establishes more than ever that he has very few. Put that in your e-pipe and vape it, kids."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 051LP
|
2021 repress. 2014 release. "Robert Pollard, head lunatic of the Guided By Voices' asylum, has a surfeit of original thoughts. (Most people are lucky to have even one, ever.) That this even needs to be expressed is evidence enough for its 'truth,' as only obvious or obviously untrue things can ever hope to be true. Or to approach the truth. Something Pollard does with uncanny regularity, and which is further on display on every track on the gloriously unkempt, roiling-with-ideas More Lies from the Gooseberry Bush, the second record Pollard has released under the nom-de-rock Teenage Guitar. Here's a song title: 'Matthew's Ticker and Shaft a. Come to Breakfast b. The Girls Arrive c. Division of Swans d. When Death Has a Nice Ring.' It starts with distorted guitar over a primitive snare-and-bass-drum beat (all instruments on all songs played by Pollard), shifts into an out-of-tune piano clumping along a simple seven-chord progression, lurches into a wall of distorted guitar as two tracks of Pollard wail, wide-panned in each speaker, before finally resolving in a pretty harpsichord figure (or some synthesized version thereof) inelegantly tripping over itself before trailing off into the next track: 'The Instant American,' which presents multi-tracked Pollard vocals chanting over a background of what sounds like a bunch of people at a party drinking. These are not the two strangest tracks on the fourteen-song album, which clocks in at just over thirty minutes. If there are times when Pollard's musical ambition seems to overwhelm his ability to present his ideas coherently, that's a feature, not a bug. The spastic, machine-generated beat of 'A Guaranteed Ratio,' the ham-handed church organ of 'Good Mary's House,' the off-key crooning, the awkwardly plucked possible-banjo on 'All You Fought For,' the general (but not always) sloppiness, the rumbling toms and slashing power chording of 'New Light': it all adds up to a sense of urgency and an awful lot of unconstrained joy suffusing every single track on More Lies From The Gooseberry Bush. For those who like their Pollard stately, tuneful and elegiac -- sure, he can do that without effort, but that's not what Teenage Guitar is about. Teenage Guitar is about trying hard without seeming to try hard. The result is that rare thing: a completely original album. Which is also a true delight, a sky-blue gem, a timeless and untimely cabinet of wonder. And by some few miles the greatest musical artifact your ears will have the pleasure of encountering this year."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 110CD
|
"It's been just a few months since Guided By Voice's faux rock opera Earth Man Blues garnered four-star and five-star reviews, with Rolling Stone proclaiming that it 'squarely hits all the marks that make Guided By Voices great -- again and again and again.' 'Again and again and again', is perhaps GBV's credo, with Robert Pollard's never-ending supply of fascinating and supremely catchy rock. Just when one thinks one's got them pinned down, album number thirty-four opens with bizarre percussion, mariachi trumpets, strings and acoustic guitar. The adventurous spirit pervades yet another killer album from the greatest and most versatile GBV line-up. The golden boys (Doug Gillard, Bobby Bare Jr, Mark Shue, Kevin March) can do no wrong. Hooky singles 'My (Limited) Engagement', 'High In The Rain' and 'Dance of Gurus' intermingle with occasionally dark lyrics and the oddest of GBV oddballs, the ridiculous 'Razor Bug', 'Psycho House', and the 'Maintenance Man Of The Haunted House'. The horns and strings return intermittently, with 'The Bells Get Out Of The Way' going full Burt Bacharach. It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! is a creative tour-de-force full of surprises from the most prolific and captivating band on the planet."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 110LP
|
|
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
GBVI 087LP
|
2021 repress. "Zeppelin Over China is a major and majestic work in the GBV canon, spotlighting the scope and genius of Robert Pollard's songwriting. With thirty-two songs in 75 minutes, the massive double-album Zeppelin reaches lofty heights on its musical journey. Pollard continues to deliver endless invention and emotional wallop in two and three-minute guitar rock gems. Pollard has assembled his greatest supporting cast ever -- Doug Gillard (guitar), Kevin March (drums), Mark Shue (bass), Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar) and Travis Harrison (engineer) -- and this line-up's virtuosic talents spur him to his most ambitious work yet, a grand album of emotional resonance and narrative drama. After well-deserved acclaim for the mind-boggling milestone of Pollard's 100 career albums, Zeppelin Over China is a wonderful entry point for new listeners to experience Guided By Voices for the first time. Not resting on his laurels, Pollard's tireless tenacity pays off with spectacular results."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 084LP
|
2021 repress. "Robert Pollard's Waved Out gets the 20th anniversary reissue treatment with newly re-mastered audio and a beautiful blue vinyl pressing. The Guided By Voices captain's second solo album from 1998 captures the more eclectic side of his songwriting. Here, he brilliantly compresses prog, psych, and post-punk ideas into magnificent two-minute pop songs. Wire, early Genesis, Nilsson Schmilsson, Lennon's White Album songs, Blue Öyster Cult, XTC, and Captain Beefheart: it's all here, condensed into brilliant songs like 'Subspace Biographies' and 'Whiskey Ships.' A lot's been made of Pollard's spontaneous and prolific songwriting methods, and most of that's true, though he works much harder on his songs than even he likes to admit. With Waved Out, he seemed to grow more comfortable and ambitious in formal studio-type settings, so that anyone who carps about 'unfinished arrangements' and 'shitty production values' ought to be pretty happy with this record. This doesn't apply to 'Caught Waves Again,' where he sings into a boombox over a tape of GBV guitarist Doug Gillard's noodling. Nor does it apply to a touching song about tragedies in Pollard's hometown of Dayton, Ohio, called 'People Are Leaving,' where he puts two separate melodies over instruments by collaborator Stephanie Sayers. In addition to Gillard, a few other GBV personalities appear on the record, Jim Pollard, Tobin Sprout and Jim MacPherson, then of The Breeders. But the bulk of the record, including a fair bit of the drumming, is all Robert Pollard."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 104CD
|
"Cub Scout Bowling Pins hop in the 'Magic Taxi', turn on the AM radio and time travel forty to forty-five years back in time. The project is mysteriously presented, but it's a thinly-veiled alias of the ridiculously prolific and talented Guided By Voices. Minus the usual punk and prog influences, there are strong whiffs of bubble gum, psych and soft rock with sugary doses of ornate baroque pop. Long renowned scholars of rock, the Ohio players have occasionally worn their influences on their sleeves, but this time they seemingly have their jackets on inside out. Perhaps conceptually similar to how GBV went tongue-in-cheek 'country' backing Cash Rivers & The Sinners in 2018, but Cub Scout Bowling Pins is a thousand times subtler, like an eccentric cousin of GBV with the craziness knob turned up by 10%. And while Cash Rivers discs trade hands among collectors on Discogs for hundreds of dollars, Cub Scout Bowling Pins' debut 7-inch Heaven Beats Iowa was recently spotted for sale for no less than $10,000. On their debut long player, America's newest hit-makers dip into retro-futuristic weirdness, side-by-side with whimsical sophistication and candy-coated technicolor complexity. In the flip-flop world of Summer 2021, transistor radios will vibrate with the sweet and hooky 'We' and 'Nova Mona' while '© 1-2-3' will 'climb' the 'charts'. 'Ride My Earthmobile' spins like an even-more demented 13th Floor Elevators. Is that Jimmy Webb or Lee Hazlewood hidden behind the latest issue of The Telegraph Hill Gazette? 'Schoolmaster Bones' chortles with a groovy pretzel logic, while 'Space Invader' and 'Magic Taxi' beckon with jangling guitars, shimmering strings, mellotrons and vintage synths. Following three critically-lauded GBV albums recorded in quarantine in 2020, is this a light-hearted detour, a midlife crisis or just good clean Pandemic fun? Cub Scout Bowling Pins beg the questions: exactly what drugs are they taking? And where can we get some? Clang Clang Ho!"
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 104LP
|
LP version. "Cub Scout Bowling Pins hop in the 'Magic Taxi', turn on the AM radio and time travel forty to forty-five years back in time. The project is mysteriously presented, but it's a thinly-veiled alias of the ridiculously prolific and talented Guided By Voices. Minus the usual punk and prog influences, there are strong whiffs of bubble gum, psych and soft rock with sugary doses of ornate baroque pop. Long renowned scholars of rock, the Ohio players have occasionally worn their influences on their sleeves, but this time they seemingly have their jackets on inside out. Perhaps conceptually similar to how GBV went tongue-in-cheek 'country' backing Cash Rivers & The Sinners in 2018, but Cub Scout Bowling Pins is a thousand times subtler, like an eccentric cousin of GBV with the craziness knob turned up by 10%. And while Cash Rivers discs trade hands among collectors on Discogs for hundreds of dollars, Cub Scout Bowling Pins' debut 7-inch Heaven Beats Iowa was recently spotted for sale for no less than $10,000. On their debut long player, America's newest hit-makers dip into retro-futuristic weirdness, side-by-side with whimsical sophistication and candy-coated technicolor complexity. In the flip-flop world of Summer 2021, transistor radios will vibrate with the sweet and hooky 'We' and 'Nova Mona' while '© 1-2-3' will 'climb' the 'charts'. 'Ride My Earthmobile' spins like an even-more demented 13th Floor Elevators. Is that Jimmy Webb or Lee Hazlewood hidden behind the latest issue of The Telegraph Hill Gazette? 'Schoolmaster Bones' chortles with a groovy pretzel logic, while 'Space Invader' and 'Magic Taxi' beckon with jangling guitars, shimmering strings, mellotrons and vintage synths. Following three critically-lauded GBV albums recorded in quarantine in 2020, is this a light-hearted detour, a midlife crisis or just good clean Pandemic fun? Cub Scout Bowling Pins beg the questions: exactly what drugs are they taking? And where can we get some? Clang Clang Ho!"
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 103CD
|
"Is it really a musical?! The 33rd Guided By Voices album, Earth Man Blues, is a magical cinematic rock album, full of dramatic and surreal twists and turns. Lyrics and liner notes trace the growth of young Harold Admore Harold through a coming of age and a reckoning with darkness. Vivid scenes appear: snapshots of youth, fantastical nightmares, unknown worlds. The music hasn't softened a bit. One will hear the impossibly perfect melodies and word play that you expect from Robert Pollard, with the band playing at peak-heavy. 'Trust Them Now' rocks like an instant classic, 'The Batman Sees The Ball' is lean, mean rock muscle. Opener 'Made Man' tears and slashes at the ears and heart. Sweeping, colossal tracks like 'Lights Out (In Memphis, Egypt)' and 'Dirty Kid School' stretch far beyond the ordinary vocabulary of rock. Doug Gillard's brilliant guitar playing explodes out of the speakers. The rhythm section of Kevin March and Mark Shue, always strong and reliable, has grown into a breathing composite organism. Along with Bobby Bare, Jr on rhythm guitar, they drive the songs and make one's head shake. Producer Travis Harrison ties the talents of the band together, once again recorded remotely and individually, pandemic-style. This group brings to life the sounds in Pollard's technicolor imagination."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
GBVI 101CD
|
"Styles We Paid For is Guided By Voices' third album of 2020 and it stands as a testament to this Year In Isolation, reflecting these dark days through Robert Pollard's prism, with the band sounding as confident and authoritative as ever. The fifteen tracks were recorded remotely during quarantine from five states (Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee) to comprise GBV's ninth album since 2017. Pollard's searing vocals hold center stage, with endless melodic invention and impeccable phrasing. The massively crescendoing opening track 'Megaphone Riley' seems to be inspired by a diabolical politician-in-chief, and like an indie-rock Nostradamus, presciently highlights the 'Jumbo Virus', while in the final couplet of the album closer 'When Growing Was Simple' Pollard urges 'Don't drink and drive / stay at home and eat'. Other album highlights include Big Rock standouts like the incredibly hooky 'Mr. Child' with the band in full arena rock power swing, while the titular protagonist is mentioned by name no less than sixteen times; the touching beauty and lyrical relevance of 'Stops' and the majestically elegant 'In Calculus Stratagem', a bubbly pop rock joyride in 'Crash at Lake Placebo'; the subtle current-day technological observations of 'They Don't Play The Drums Anymore' and the sleek 'Electronic Windows To Nowhere' (written by a man who owns neither a smart phone or a computer). It's notably heavy in it's worldliness, lyrical content, texture, and approach -- and rides out like a cinematic journey of the bizarro world one find oneself in. While other bands have been napping, GBV have achieved their second consecutive hat-trick (three albums per annum), and have further cemented their status as rock legends for achieving more in this bleak year then most bands do across their entire careers."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
GBVI 101LP
|
LP version. "Styles We Paid For is Guided By Voices' third album of 2020 and it stands as a testament to this Year In Isolation, reflecting these dark days through Robert Pollard's prism, with the band sounding as confident and authoritative as ever. The fifteen tracks were recorded remotely during quarantine from five states (Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee) to comprise GBV's ninth album since 2017. Pollard's searing vocals hold center stage, with endless melodic invention and impeccable phrasing. The massively crescendoing opening track 'Megaphone Riley' seems to be inspired by a diabolical politician-in-chief, and like an indie-rock Nostradamus, presciently highlights the 'Jumbo Virus', while in the final couplet of the album closer 'When Growing Was Simple' Pollard urges 'Don't drink and drive / stay at home and eat'. Other album highlights include Big Rock standouts like the incredibly hooky 'Mr. Child' with the band in full arena rock power swing, while the titular protagonist is mentioned by name no less than sixteen times; the touching beauty and lyrical relevance of 'Stops' and the majestically elegant 'In Calculus Stratagem', a bubbly pop rock joyride in 'Crash at Lake Placebo'; the subtle current-day technological observations of 'They Don't Play The Drums Anymore' and the sleek 'Electronic Windows To Nowhere' (written by a man who owns neither a smart phone or a computer). It's notably heavy in it's worldliness, lyrical content, texture, and approach -- and rides out like a cinematic journey of the bizarro world one find oneself in. While other bands have been napping, GBV have achieved their second consecutive hat-trick (three albums per annum), and have further cemented their status as rock legends for achieving more in this bleak year then most bands do across their entire careers."
|
viewing 1 To 25 of 39 items
Next >>
|
|